|
National Sports Week commemorated to honor HM the King
Pattaya to get new stadium to host ASEAN Games
Suchada Tupchai
City efforts to add an S for Sports to Pattaya’s
reputation of Sea, Sand and Sun have been successfully recognized by the
“powers that be” after a series of sporting activities on Sunday
December 21, culminating with the presentation of the International
Olympic Committee of Thailand blazer to Mayor Pairat Sutithamrongsawat
symbolizing that Pattaya is now recognized as an international sports
city.
 Vithaya
Khunpluem, president of the Chonburi Sports Association leads the populace
in a candle lit ceremony to honor HM the King.
Budget approval for the purchase of up to 150 rai of
land to build an international sports stadium has been granted the city
council following the announcement that Pattaya will host the first ASEAN
Inter-games in November 2005.
The celebrations were organized to honor HM King
Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great, whom through His dedication and achievements
in sports in Thailand have raised the standards of Thai sports to
international levels. But more specifically the commemoration marks the
day when His Majesty won a Gold Medal sailing the OK Dinghy Class in the
South East Asian Peninsular Games, 36 years ago on the 16th of December,
1967. This day is now observed as the “National Sports Day” and is
celebrated in the Kingdom throughout the week.
 General
Kritsana Tiamthip (left) presents the Olympic blazer to Mayor Pairat
Suthithamrongsawat. At right is Ratnirund Peewsook, secretary of the Sport
for All commission.
The festivities began with the first stage of the
Olympic Pattaya Bangsaen Walk-Run-Racing and Dance activities at 7 a.m.
with a field of cyclists leaving Pattaya City Hall to make their way to
Bangsaen (over 50 kilometers away) and carrying the Olympic flag and to
present the Olympic blazer to Saensuk mayor, Somchai Khunpluem.
 Pattaya
citizens gather at the Bali Hai pier in preparation for the ceremonies.
At 11 a.m. a group of cyclists from Bangsaen arrived in
Pattaya where they were well received by city administrators and Rear
Admiral Vichai Sukho, deputy commander of the Thai Marine forces in
Sattahip where they also received the International Olympic Committee of
Thailand flag and the Bangsaen-Pattaya Events Flag.
 The
Kasemsook Movement concludes in the meditation position.
Almost 3,000 local residents and Pattaya students
joined in the activities in the afternoon for a mass parade promoting
sports and a healthy lifestyle. The parade made its way from city hall
through Pattaya Beach Road and Walking Street ending at the Bali Hai pier,
where they placed the flags in front of a huge portrait of HM the King.
 Students
from the Redemptorist Vocational College for the Disabled perform one of
their intricate dances.
The champion cheerleader troupe from the Arksorn School
of Technology performed for the crowd and to kick start a mass aerobics
exercise event with 999 children from Pattaya schools. Students from the
Redemptorist Vocational College for the Disabled performed unique and
heart- rending dance movements, another highlight of the event.
 The
Arksorn School of Technology cheerleader troupe in top form.
In the evening, General Kritsana Tiamthip, deputy
chairman of the Sport for All Commission of the International Olympic
Committee of Thailand, assisted by Ratnirund Peewsook, secretary of the
SFA commission and his committee members, presented the Olympic blazer to
Mayor Pairat on stage before relaying the history behind the day’s
events, finishing up with more than 700 children from Pattaya Schools No.
7 and No. 8 performing the Kasemsook Movement, developed by Kasemsook
Pamornsatit, director of the Mathura Human & Society foundation and
Pattaya City advisor in the development of morals amongst children.
The Kasemsook Movement involves the body as well as the
mind and spirit. This unique form of exercise has been highly regarded as
one that is good for the heart and rejuvenates the body. The 6 and a half
minute exercise is accompanied by soothing music and concludes with 3-5
minutes of meditation.
Vithaya Khunpluem, president of the Chonburi Sports Association,
performed the official ceremonies and read the proclamation of loyalty and
praise to HM the King. The pier area was then illuminated in a sea of
radiance as thousands of loyal citizens held up candles and sang songs of
praise to honour His Majesty, our beloved King.
Royal Cliff Beach Resort says ‘thank you’
to travel agents and press
Panga Vathanakul, managing director of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort,
threw open the doors of the elegant Supper Club to welcome and thank more
than 300 travel agents and members of the press for their support throughout
the year.
 (l-r)
Anchali Muttamara, Managing Director of Sunny Sunflower (Thailand),
Alexander Haeusler, General Manager of Royal Cliff Beach Resort,
Primprapaporn (Prim) Held, Sales Manager, MICE, and Tida Tanawan, Tour
Co-ordinator for Sunflower (Thailand).
In her welcoming speech Panga said that the past 12
months were amongst the most eventful in the resort’s history. “The year
2003 was an extremely difficult time, not only for the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort, but for the whole travel industry. The negative impact of the SARS
epidemic was even more devastating than September 11 tragedy or the war in
Iraq.”
 Pornsri
Visarachaipan (right) from Je Tour and the resort’s Executive Director
Vathanai Vathanakul are all smiles.
Panga, showing her fighting spirit went on to say, “The
crisis tested our abilities to the limit, but now we are stronger and better
prepared than ever before. Today the industry stands fully recovered and we
look towards the future with hope, as we prepare to celebrate the coming new
year.”
 Director
of Sales for Thailand Sunisa Yusananda with the Bangkok Sales team who
performed a vivacious Latin American dance.
Panga spoke proudly of the pioneering days of the resort
saying, “The Royal Cliff Beach Resort has a long and proud history. From
its humble beginnings with the 91-room Royal Cliff Terrace in 1973, the
resort has experienced tremendous growth over the past three decades and
blossomed into one of Asia’s most luxurious holiday, convention and
exhibition destinations. And of course this year also marked our 30th
anniversary at which, in the presence of HRH Princess Ubolratana, we
celebrated in grand style.”
 Special
guests to this year’s Thank You Party were (l-r) Jacob Snoek, Marijke Van
den Bergh, Cees W. Van Oye of Maazel Travel, Peter Malhotra of Pattaya Mail,
Malai Sakolviphak, President of Skๅl National Committee Thailand, and
Elfi Seitz of Pattaya Blatt (far right) with Managing Director Panga
Vathanakul (2nd
from right) and General Manager Alexander Haeusler (3rd
right).
On improvements at the resort, Panga said, “We are
continuously upgrading the resort, which this year included the renovation
of the main lobby with the Crystal Bar and fully refurbished the Rossini
Italian Restaurant. Another important additional improvement was to offer
the resorts’ guests broad-band wireless access to the information super
highway.”
The most rewarding achievement by the Royal Cliff was
cited by Panga, saying, “As part of our ongoing drive to further improve
our standards of service, I am proud to announce that we have achieved our
goals, which makes the Royal Cliff Beach Resort the first convention hotel
in Thailand to hold both the ISO 14001 and the ISO 9001 (Version 2000)
certification.”
In conclusion she said, “I am very grateful to all of you for the
effort you have put in helping Pattaya and the Royal Cliff Beach Resort to
become what we are today. It has been a real pleasure to work with you and I
look forward to continuing our strong relationship and mutual cooperation as
we inter 2004.”
Thailand International Jazz Festival II
From King’s Palace grounds to Bangsaen Beach
Sue K.
Music lovers enjoyed the chance to experience
Thailand’s best jazz music performed by famous international and Thai
artists during the Thailand International Jazz Festival II held from
December 12 - 14 at Dusit Palace Lawn, Bangkok, and December 19 - 20 at
Bangsaen Beach, Chonburi.
 Lee
Ritenour soothed the audience with his outstanding guitar work.
The festival drew together Thai musicians and many world
class jazz artists, such as Larry Carlton, Joe Sample, Lee Ritenour, Spyro
Gyra, Piti Quartet and Rudkloaw, Koh ‘Saxman’, T-Square, Bangkok
Connection, and Tuck& Patti, just to name a few.
 On
the tarmac opposite the stage, dozens of classic cars were on display,
including grandpa’s Chevrolet Impala, Fords, Mercedes convertibles and
Alfa Romeos. Some grandpas chitty chitty bang banged into their parking
places, and reversed into the assigned parking slot with a screech.
This event received tremendous support from the
government, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the National Council of
Women of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen,
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Heineken, and Thai Airways.
 Lee
Ritenour and his guest flutist were magic together.
The Thailand International Jazz Festival II was a joint
effort to boost tourism in Thailand, and to become the center of music in
Asian region.
 Billy
Ryan shows off a classic convertible.
The famous jazz compositions by His Majesty King Bhumibol
Adulyadej were performed by local and international artists, much to the
appreciation of the audience.
The 5-day series in Bangsaen was truly a nice way to wind
down the year, with an open-air jazz festival held on the public grounds at
Laem Thaen in Bangsaen.
 The
open-air jazz festival held on at Laem Thaen in Bangsaen was truly a nice
way to wind down the year.
With the Silhouetted Khao Sam Muk hill in the background
and the waves hitting the shore on the side of the stage, the night welcomed
thousands of people who were drawn to the event to enjoy the nice music
amidst a cool winter breeze.
 T-Square
gave the crowd what they were looking for - cool music on a cool winter’s
eve.
On the tarmac ground opposite the stage, dozens of
classic cars were on display, including grandpa’s Chevrolet Impala, Fords,
Mercedes convertibles, and Alfa Romeos. Some grandpas were chitty chitty
bang banging into the parking place, and reversing into the assigned parking
slot with a screech as I write.
Thumbs up for the Bangsaen organizers who skillfully set
up the stage and seating.
No hassles from food vendors, no chaotic wisdom fairs,
and no pushing and squeezing, because only authorized food shops were
allowed to do businesses in the area. Plus, no chaos in car traffic.
Wouldn’t it be nice for Pattaya City to take this as an example and
realize it in their next ‘in the middle of the town affecting the road
traffic’ beach event?
Service clubs living up to mission
Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis at front of global war against disease
By David Brown
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Sunday, December 7, 2003 -
Lunch is over, and the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C. is taking coffee when
Susan O’Neal starts her slide presentation about the trip she and 65 other
Rotarians took to India, where they helped hand out oral polio vaccine to
ragtag children in a New Delhi slum. She explains that the vaccine, taken in
two drops of fluid, grows in the intestine and is excreted by the body for a
few weeks while immunity builds up. She then clicks on a slide of an open
sewer. “You can see how it’s rather easy for people to get fecal
microbes on their hands,” O’Neal says. “In fact, even though only 93
percent of children on average get vaccinated in a campaign, the other 7
percent get immunized through the feces in the environment.”
A groan briefly mixes with the tinkling of glassware as
the Rotarians settle in for the latest dispatch from their organization’s
15-year campaign to eradicate polio, the leading cause of childhood
paralysis.
This scene at the Hotel Washington recently is not one
that George F. Babbitt, the title character of Sinclair Lewis’s 1922
novel, would easily recognize. A small-minded resident of a fictional
American city, Babbitt belonged to a Rotary-like organization called the
Boosters Club. Lewis lampooned it as little more than institutionalized
selfishness, and his unflattering picture still lingers in the American
psyche.
That may be the reason so few people know that the heirs
of Babbitt’s Boosters - not only in Rotary but also in two other large
clubs like it - are now major players in the global fight against disease.
They are engaged in arduous and thankless campaigns against ailments that
have largely disappeared from the places where their members live.
Since 1988, Rotary International has contributed $500
million and sent thousands of volunteers to work on the polio campaign. The
club is second only to the U.S. government in the amount of money it has
poured into the effort to eradicate a human disease for only the second time
in history.
In 1994, Kiwanis International adopted as its cause the
elimination of iodine deficiency, the biggest cause of preventable mental
retardation in the world. Since then, the club has provided more than $50
million to help ensure that all salt used in food contains iodine.
Lions Clubs International, once famous for collecting and
recycling used eyeglasses, spent $148 million over the past decade on
sight-preservation projects in 79 countries. It plays an important role in a
river-blindness campaign in Africa, has trained 14,000 ophthalmic workers in
India and helped pay for 2.1 million cataract operations in 104 rural
counties in China, where last year it became the only Western “service
club” allowed to establish chapters.
The contributions of these clubs, however, go well beyond
money. Over the past decade they have essentially created a new species of
nongovernmental organization.
Unlike many medical charities in the developing world,
these are not small cadres of overworked, self-sacrificing idealists.
Instead, they are vast, permanent networks of well-connected people willing
to put in small amounts of time - often in the form of lobbying and
consciousness-raising - against a few targeted diseases.
“Their contribution goes way beyond pretty important. I
believe that eradication of polio would not have been feasible without the
participation of Rotary International,” said R. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian
physician who is the World Health Organization’s coordinator for the
Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
“Kiwanis is signed up indefinitely, not for donating
money but for raising their voice if they see any backsliding,” said Frits
van der Haar, a Dutch nutritionist who heads the Network for Sustained
Elimination of Iodine Deficiency. “Outsiders like Kiwanis are the
watchdogs. They see that the work is done well and continues to get done.”
In the river-blindness campaign, Merck & Co. provides the drug
ivermectin and Lions Clubs International pays to train African villagers to
dispense it. The “barefoot doctor” strategy that has evolved from the
program may become a model for other medical programs in places with few
health professionals, said Moses Katabarwa, a Ugandan epidemiologist and
anthropologist. “The Lions, they have triggered off a process in which
there is no reverse,” said Katabarwa, who recently moved to the United
States to work on river blindness with the Carter Center in Atlanta.
The three clubs came to their work independently, tracing
similar paths from their origins as social organizations for midwestern
businessmen. Rotary, the oldest, was founded in Chicago in 1905. Kiwanis
(whose name is a shortened form of an Indian phrase meaning “we trade”)
began in Detroit in 1915. The first Lions Club formed in Chicago two years
later.
All made charitable works in their communities part of
their mission. The Lions chose blindness prevention as a theme in 1925 when
45-year-old Helen Keller challenged them to become “knights of the blind
in this crusade against darkness.” All eventually opened clubs on other
continents.
In the early 1980s, several Rotary leaders proposed
beginning an organization-wide project separate from local efforts. “This
was contrary to the beginnings of Rotary and was also contrary to the
feelings of a lot of senior Rotarians,” recalled William T. Sergeant, who
at age 84 heads Rotary’s polio activities. But the idea took hold.
At the suggestion of Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral
polio vaccine, Rotary chose as its goal universal immunization of children
against polio and several other infectious diseases. In 1986, it decided to
support the effort through 2005, the club’s centennial year. It did not
envisage eradicating polio.
A two-year campaign brought in more than twice as much
money as expected - $247 million, not $120 million. Partly on the strength
of that support, the World Health Organization in 1988 announced its intent
to rid the world of polio. A WHO-led effort had previously eradicated
smallpox in a campaign lasting from 1966 to 1980. “A lot of people have
very ambitious ideas, but almost nobody has the funding to kick-start a
global initiative,” Aylward said. “Rotary was the Gates Foundation of
1988.” But eradication has proved more difficult than anyone anticipated.
The target date was originally 2000; it is now 2005. The extra time required
more money.
Earlier this year, Rotary completed a second fundraising
campaign, which raised $111 million - again more than the target, which was
$80 million. The club’s contributions, including interest, now total more
than $500 million.
Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service
club, decided to reorient much of its sight-saving efforts after it held a
symposium with experts in blindness prevention in Singapore in 1989.
“We were astounded to hear that blindness was
increasing, particularly in the developing world,” said Brian Stevenson, a
provincial judge in Alberta who had just finished a term as Lions president.
“They told us there were 40 million blind people in the world, and 32
million of the cases were or had been treatable. So it gave us a lot of
focus.”
Lions set a goal of $130 million but raised $147 million
for its SightFirst program. The organization has funded more than 550 grants
in 78 countries targeting the main causes of blindness.
Kiwanis’s entry into the global health arena was due in
part to the example of the two other clubs.
In 1991, William Foege, former head of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, asked the Kiwanis president, a physician
named Wil Blechman, what the club was doing for the world’s children.
Foege cited Rotary’s polio work and Lions’ just-created SightFirst.
While Kiwanis had urged local clubs to have a charitable activity aimed at
children younger than 5, there was no organization-wide project. “I will
bring this to the attention of our board, because I don’t know at the
moment,” Blechman recalled answering sheepishly.
The board discussed the idea and ultimately surveyed its
membership, which favored a global project 2 to 1. UNICEF suggested a focus
on iodine deficiency. Iodine is an essential part of thyroid hormone, which
in turn is essential to brain development. In places where diets contain
insufficient iodine, generally because the soil contains little and there is
no seafood, the intelligence of the entire population is shifted downward.
In 1990, only 20 percent of the world’s households consumed salt treated
with enough iodine to prevent deficiency.
UNICEF estimated the problem could be eliminated
worldwide in five years for $50 million to $75 million. Kiwanis took the
challenge because it was important, concrete and “something we thought we
could handle,” Blechman said. The organization pledged to raise $75
million and has already contributed $57 million. The money pays for
iodization equipment for salt manufacturers and campaigns on the importance
of iodized salt.
Occasionally, members of service clubs do the work
themselves. Thousands of Rotarians, both local and foreign volunteers, have
participated in national immunization days when vaccine is given to millions
of children over a few days. Dave Groner, a 60-year-old funeral director in
Dowagiac, Mich., has led four groups of Rotarians to India and one to
Nigeria. Next month, he will take 14 people, 10 of them nurses, to Niger.
They will all pay their own way - about $3,000 each. “We’ve never been
asked to not work or to get lost,” he said.
Occasionally, club members play a role nobody else can.
Angola has a single Rotary Club, 32 people who meet in the capital, Luanda.
They are led by Sylvia Nagy, who with her husband owns a foundry. In 1997, a
25-year civil war, which ended last year with the death of rebel leader
Jonas Savimbi, was underway.
There had not been a vaccination campaign in the
rebel-held half of the country in years. Nagy, along with representatives of
WHO and UNICEF, negotiated a truce so immunization days could be held in
June that year. Rotary rented planes, boats and four-wheel-drive vehicles to
deliver vaccine, and disbursed $4 million to far-flung vaccinators. About
2.5 million children were vaccinated.
On Sept. 2, Angola marked its second year without a
single case of polio.
(c) 2003, The Washington Post. Reprinted with permission.
Pattaya turns on the lights for Christmas Eve 2003
Staff Reporters
 Toys
for Joy booth at the Thai Garden Resort.T’was the night before Christmas and all through the
town, there was plenty a stirrin’, even the odd clown ... Not exactly a
traditional Christmas tale, but then again Pattaya is no ordinary town.
Pattayans turned on their lights and celebrated the
age-old western tradition of Christmas with truly a local flavor. Hotels,
bars and city streets buzzed with a festive atmosphere as many sang, danced
and drank their way into December 25.
 Yuri-Kon
Band at the Marriott Resort & Spa jazzed up the evening’s
entertainment for their Christmas in Asia.
The night began early with the Pattaya Orphanage choir
singing carols at the Queen Victoria Inn, Soi 6. After rolling up in the
bus, the children from this beloved center sang their way into the hearts of
the staff, management and customers of the popular inn. Before it was over,
Santa arrived a little early for the kids, and probably for the adults as
well, as under the Christmas tree, a pile of gifts was stacked higher than
the knee, and the girls from the Queen Vic took pride in the duty of eagerly
handing out gifts. The kids truly enjoyed taking count of their newly gotten
booty. As they said farewell and went off in a dash, the customers and staff
handed over the cash, generously donated to the children at the orphanage in
true Christmas spirit.
 The
Queen Victoria Inn management, staff and guests were thrilled by the
Orphanage children’s performance.
Next up the rounds of fun town festivities were in full
swing as the Hard Rock Hotel turned up the music to bring on the cheer at
Starz Diner for yet another year. A buffet dinner and show featured on floor
as hotel staff as YWCA gave presents to another group of carol singers under
the hotel’s charity project for the poor.
 The
nativity scene was played out at St. Nikolaus Church in Pattaya.
The Diana Group proved yet again to be another place that
Pattaya was in the mood for Christmas, as guests and visitors dined by the
pool at a Thai style Christmas party with plenty of fun games and prizes to
be won. A live band and Muay Thai ‘Kabi Krabong’ demonstrations were
among some of the many activities held at the Diana Inn.
 The
Pattaya Orphanage choir sang carols at the Queen Victoria Inn, Soi 6.
The Moon River Pub at the Thai Garden Resort also took
the opportunity to help those less fortunate by holding a Toys for Joy
program for the children at Camillian Social Center born with HIV.
 At
The Captain’s Corner Restaurant, Santa made a surprise visit with presents
for all the children.
The hotel’s pool area was yet again the scene for a
Pattaya style Christmas with plenty of activities for guests.
The Pattaya Marriott Resort and Spa knew what they were
aiming for with their theme ‘Christmas in Asia’ featuring a high flying
Filipino acrobatic show as well as resident band Yuri-Kon and then on to
hand out Christmas gifts to lucky guests.
 They
huffed and they puffed on Christmas Eve at the Diana Inn.
Magic was in the air as the Dusit Resort Pattaya also
held a theme party with the Heartthrobs band providing the evening melodious
entertainment and special shows featuring a Magic Christmas Dance show
before the big man in red arrived.
 Christmas
Eve was a “Magic Night” at the Dusit Resort.
Close by the Amari Orchid Resort celebrated Christmas
under the clear night sky as the children from the Pattaya Orphanage, on
what is probably one of their busiest nights of the year, sang Christmas
carols for guests. There was also yet another appearance of ‘uncle’
Santa, as he is known in Thailand.
 A
rock ‘n’ roll Christmas Eve at the Hard Rock.
The Green Tree Pub was lit up, well, like a Christmas
tree as they dazzled their guests with beautiful festive season lights and
successfully creating a ‘Christmassy’ feel to their beach side location
with plenty of fun activities.
Finally, as Christmas Eve came to an end and the time had
been reached, a somber note fell over the city as the faithful joined in the
midnight mass to exult in the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus
Christ.
Santa
made many new friends at the Green Tree.
At St. Nikolaus Church in Pattaya, Bishop Laurence
Tienchai Samanjit held the midnight mass, joining others around the nation
to welcome the birth of the holy infant, some 2003 years ago, to many
churchgoers who had come to rejoice in this holy time of the year.
No matter how commercial Christmas becomes, there will always be those
who will remember what it was all about, and that’s how Pattaya saw in
Christmas Day.
|
